Expecting absolutely nothing of any interest caused me to have some hope during the first twenty minutes.

Then the reality of the film began to seep in. Horrid dialogue, surprisingly bad acting across the board, and some really dodgy sound editing -- have you ever noticed sound editing before? ...me neither -- helped to drive an already sub-standard plot further into the ground.

Spoiler below contains info about how the film ends, but raises an excellent question.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Quote

My favourite part, however, is the end. The message throughout seems to be Drugs Are Bad, as everybody's life is getting ruined thanks to this exciting new drug that's out on the street. It's a drug that makes 1% of people into superhumans, and turns the rest of them crazy. Can you guess what the Act Three twist is? Max takes the drug and becomes a superhuman. I don't even know where to begin. Did they not think about this? Did they not think, "Hey, our market is boys between the ages of twelve and twenty-five, maybe we shouldn't be condoning drug use?". It's utterly irresponsible, and without any hint of self-awareness. Conservative Christians, if you'd like me to respect you at all, stop going after films that contain sex, and maybe take a swipe at the year's most socially reckless movie. If you have to take easy shots at the film industry, why not go after a film that actually has something to answer for?

Max Payne is probably not going to go over well with most reviewers. It's a story that is based upon being cliched, and reviewers hate that. I'm more interested in what fans of the games will have to say.

now, come on, spill more beans! Was it like the game? Was Max as badass as he's supposed to be? Was the dialogue really that bad? Music and sound? COME ON!!! TELL US!!!! ARRRGGHH

I have some of the same questions. I've been hoping that someone from the forums will take one for the team and see the film despite the horrid reviews, and now I at least have some hope that perhaps the film is lost on mainstream critics but may be a hit with the videogame crowd. Although I don't think it worked out so well for Hitman, so I'm wondering if Max Payne will follow suit.

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Beauty is only skin deep. Which is why I take very good care of my skin.

The movie seems to be a direct pull of the storyline from the game. Starts with the subway, goes through Max meeting Natasha and her dying with his wallet, then Alex dying, then ... well, if you've played the game, you get the idea.

Admittedly, I haven't played the game in over 5 years, but I just bought it last night and will be playing some this weekend, to give you an idea. Oh. NO DRUG TRIP IN THE MOVIE.

The music may not be the same as the game, but is definitely mood-setting and dark. I wouldn't be surprised if the music (and the dialogue) is close to what's in the game. Which may be one of the things the movie is getting dinged on, to be honest.

There are at least three uses of bullet-time in the movie, most of which seem to be aimed at setting dramatic mood rather than "OH COOL WE CAN SLOW DOWN TIME PEW PEW PEW."

The bird stuff in the trailers? Those are all drug-hallucinations, pretty much like the game. All of the characters are here: Max, Mona, Alex, Jim Bravura, BB, and so on.

The movie ends the same as the first game, and definitely stay after the credits.

I'm honestly not sure what they pulled out of the movie to make it PG-13, other than perhaps frontal nudity or gore, because a lot of cussing and shooting is in the game. I'm definitely going to be buying the DVD though, to see the 'gamer cut'.

Huh? This doesn't sound familiar at all. AFAIK, there were only three women involved in the storylines of the two games: Max's wife, Mona, and the Big Bad in the first game.

This was near the very beginning of the game. After Max is at the subway, he goes to his snitch, meets Natasha there. She comes on to him in his apartment, and he kicks her out. She's killed just outside, and has stolen his wallet.

Huh? This doesn't sound familiar at all. AFAIK, there were only three women involved in the storylines of the two games: Max's wife, Mona, and the Big Bad in the first game.

This was near the very beginning of the game. After Max is at the subway, he goes to his snitch, meets Natasha there. She comes on to him in his apartment, and he kicks her out. She's killed just outside, and has stolen his wallet.

Either my memory is failing me, or this isn't part of the game at all. I played through both Max Paynes about 6 months ago, so it's reasonably fresh in my mind. IIRC, what happens after Payne is done at the subway is that he heads to the Finito Brothers for information, and they betray him. Max's wallet isn't even mentioned in any of the two games.

Huh? This doesn't sound familiar at all. AFAIK, there were only three women involved in the storylines of the two games: Max's wife, Mona, and the Big Bad in the first game.

This was near the very beginning of the game. After Max is at the subway, he goes to his snitch, meets Natasha there. She comes on to him in his apartment, and he kicks her out. She's killed just outside, and has stolen his wallet.

Either my memory is failing me, or this isn't part of the game at all. I played through both Max Paynes about 6 months ago, so it's reasonably fresh in my mind. IIRC, what happens after Payne is done at the subway is that he heads to the Finito Brothers for information, and they betray him. Max's wallet isn't even mentioned in any of the two games.

It is, because it ties into the entire reason his ex-partner finds him. A girl is killed and she has Max's ID. I don't remember exactly where in the game it is, but it's relatively early, before Alex is killed.

Huh? This doesn't sound familiar at all. AFAIK, there were only three women involved in the storylines of the two games: Max's wife, Mona, and the Big Bad in the first game.

This was near the very beginning of the game. After Max is at the subway, he goes to his snitch, meets Natasha there. She comes on to him in his apartment, and he kicks her out. She's killed just outside, and has stolen his wallet.

Either my memory is failing me, or this isn't part of the game at all. I played through both Max Paynes about 6 months ago, so it's reasonably fresh in my mind. IIRC, what happens after Payne is done at the subway is that he heads to the Finito Brothers for information, and they betray him. Max's wallet isn't even mentioned in any of the two games.

It is, because it ties into the entire reason his ex-partner finds him. A girl is killed and she has Max's ID. I don't remember exactly where in the game it is, but it's relatively early, before Alex is killed.

umm.. I'm playing the first game right now and there's nothing like that before Alex is killed- he dies before you even leave the subway, and Max doesn't have a partner until the second game.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

Expecting absolutely nothing of any interest caused me to have some hope during the first twenty minutes.

Then the reality of the film began to seep in. Horrid dialogue, surprisingly bad acting across the board, and some really dodgy sound editing -- have you ever noticed sound editing before? ...me neither -- helped to drive an already sub-standard plot further into the ground.

I don't think I've ever read a review at Ain't It Cool News before, but that reviewer loses me right there with those comments. "have you ever noticed sound editing before"; hell yes I have and I've haven't seen many films where it was perfect. Maybe that reviewer has difficulty hearing or finally took the wax out of his ears, but I've heard more than my share of films where mistakes were made in the audio production. I'm on the fence with this film as to whether I'll see it in the theatre or wait until it's available for rental. I loved the game and enjoyed the story, but I think that was more to do with the comic book panel approach they took to telling it.

I love Max Payne - Played the first two games a million times, and have all the music as well..brilliant, simply brilliant...

so - the movie...sucked... I am sorry, I like cheesy movies, I like pure entertainment movies where you leave the brain at the door, but this? The story was rather poor, the effects were mediocore at best, and the acting? wow - that was bad! BB was the best of them, and that was as stereotypichal as you can get.

The music didnt do anything for me, and the whole Valkyrie thing was quite pooly executed and didnt make much sense.

I'm trying hard not to spoil anything, thus I'm being vague on purpose, but, to those considering it - its a rental movie at best, I'm afraid.

The strange thing is, the games oozed atmosphere, but it simply wasnt there in the movie. They should have gotten the ones that made the trailer do the movie instead, since they pretty much nailed the atmosphere and choose the right music...

6/10 is my final score on this one, sadly...because, I REALLY wanted to like it!